Priest thinks churches should still be opened.

[malonybalony]

www.irishnews.com/coronavirus/2020/04/01/news/access-to-church-at-least-as-important-as-access-to-an-off-licence-says-bishop-donal-mckeown-1885607/

FFS no one will die if they don't go to church. But they might if they do.

An off licence can easily say "no more than 2 customers at a time" etc to keep in line with social distancing. I think it would not be easy for a church to operate the same way.

The problem with keeping churches open is you also have to keep other religious places of worship open. Not as many Hindu temples or Jewish synagogues about so they often get really crowded in cities. Most mosques are not large enough to allow social distancing and the big ones again get crowded.

He's wrong of course, churches need to be staying within the rules like everyone. He should be searching for ways to reach out to the community within the constraints. My vicar dh and his team are doing a shedload of online stuff including daily prayers but also ringing round the elderly and vulnerable and those who do not access online stuff every day, and making sure people in the church and community have what they need, and this is what most churches seem to be doing. We've found zoom particularly helpful because some of our more elderly people who do not go online can call into the meetings from a landline. And private prayer can be done anywhere.

I like the sound of your Easter service plan, mostlydrinkstea. We've found some helpful software which means you can link videos into FB live and so have a load of input from different people, it's working really well, and goes onto YouTube as well for those without FB. I want to watch yours so will look out!

I bet he can't work his laptop!

Twat

There is a church community in Berlin who are suing the authorities and say they should be able to open the church.

I was watching some news clip earlier today. Some churches who have managed to do an online service are getting a bigger congregation as a result as people are watching them around the world.

One of my siblings' churches use to do a online service so members of the congregation temporarily elsewhere in the world could watch it with their new friends.

Open the churches. Let them all in. Then lock them all in until its over.

Sorry my point is he needs to use technology to spread the word of God in these times and avoid the church being a way of transmitting the virus.

Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown has said, arguing such provision would be "at least as important as access to an off-licence".

It was published on April 1st. Whilst I don't think it is an April Fools, it sure sounds like one!

edition.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/04/04/ohio-church-service-covid-19-pandemic-tuchman-pkg-ac360-vpx.cnn

Littlelittlelittle - true! We've had 1K viewers on our livestream today plus another 500 or so for our afternoon 'messy church online'. Usually get closer to 200/70 ish so it's lovely people are joining from all over the world and really seem to appreciate it.

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray he said they should go and do it in their own room. Matthew 6 5&6 is pretty clear:

'And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.'